


To Them I'm Just Harry Potter

by Teardropfires



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Harry goes to California
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-11-25
Updated: 2012-12-19
Packaged: 2017-11-19 11:13:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/572651
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Teardropfires/pseuds/Teardropfires
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Four years after the war, Harry Potter has settle in a small beach town in California. He has a girlfriend, a job, and friends who care about him. He also has a secret. None of  the people in his new life question him about his past or his weird disappearances every month, but when things turn serious between him and his girlfriend she starts to demand more. </p>
<p>After a missed "disappearance", Hermione shows up with some news that make him return back to the wizarding world and the life he tried to leave behind.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic.. well my published one. I've decided it's time just go ahead and get it over with. So umm comments would be nice. Maybe things I can work on for the next chapters? 
> 
> Cheers!
> 
> Oh yeah and I don't own Harry Potter. Those other four loons- I guess could be considered mine.

"Make it stop!" she groans. 

Harry mumbles a confused acknowledgement. He feels a lazy but heavy hand hit his face and he startles awake with one eye open and glances around the room in subdued alarm.

"What, what, I’m awake," he says groggily and barely registers the persistent beeping of the alarm coming from his right. The hand that woke him from his sleep keeps nudging, forcefully, to get his attention, and he looks down to see a tangled mess of light blonde hair poking out of the bed sheets. 

"Makeitfuckingstop," the lump under the sheets says. Confusion slowly dissipates and he looks over and sees the blinking red lights announcing his set alarm. 

"Shite" he reaches over to silence it. “Sorry. Forgot to turn it off," he says and sank back down into the pillows with a long sigh. He turns his head and can't help the smirk that spread across his face at the truly petulant look on his bedmates face. Well part of it. Her eyes are piercing and dark, the blue-grays staring at him with clear annoyance and he's fucked. He lets out a soft laugh and shuffles to lie on his side toward her. He pushes the blankets away from her face and then the curtain of hair that follows. 

“Said I was sorry, love," he smiles and leans in to place a soft peck on the slightly pouty lips. She sighs against him and pulls back after the, to his disappointment, brief touch of lips and sits up. 

"I said I'm sorry, love," she says and a mock British accent. “Sorry," she continues and starts to pull the blankets back from her. “I forgot to turn it off," she mutters and shoots him a dark look over her shoulder as she stands and starts towards the bathroom connected to the room. 

Harry can't help but be amused. It is after all incredibly hard to take her, anyone really, serious when she is stalking around naked. His amusement seems to set her off even more. 

"And I can get away with whatever I want because I'm fucking British and Jess can’t BLOODY," she adds "resist my stupid fucking British fucking ...," she trails off as she steps into the bathroom.

Harry laughs and sits up on his elbows. "What was that, darling" he says laying the accent on thick for the occasion. She reappears in the doorway of the bathroom toothbrush in hand. "Sorry, dear. I didn't quite hear the end of that." he says and knows his smile is ridiculous. 

She glares at him for a minute with narrow eyes, “Fuck you,” she says and turns back into the bathroom too brush her teeth.

He laughs and sinks back down into the bed with a content smile as he lets the sound of her morning routine lull him into a light sleep.

A sleep short live unfortunately. He's jolted back awake when she pounces on him suddenly. 

"Fuck!" he says and tries to sit up, but finds a lap full of girlfriend. He sighs and leans back trying to catch his breath and ignore the rapid beating of his heart. “I hate when you do that." he says pulling his hand free from the grip she'd gotten on him to rub his eyes tiredly. 

"Well I hate when your stupid alarm clock wakes me up at 7 in the goddamn morning" she says matching his irritation. He pulls his hand to look at her and his retort his lost before he can say it when he notices she put on one of his shirts. He untwists his other hand and moves them both to play with the edge of the shirt and frowns slightly. “you put on clothes," he says in his habit of stating the obvious.  
He can hear her rolling her eyes and she sits back a little and looks down at where his hands are resting. "Well I'm awake now...,”as if for an explanation. 

He looks up at her and his hands slip under the thin white cotton shirt. "But we're still in bed." he looks up at her and smirks as his hand trails up higher. 

She smiles and shakes her head. “You were. I wasn't" 

He moves one hand to trace back down to grip behind her knee while the other moves to her back and in a sudden movement he flips their position and is staring down at her. 

"Now what's your excuse?"

He leans down and kisses her. Its soft and he can feel her smile spreading against his lips. 

She pulls back “Fucking. British. Bastard,” and now it’s his turn to smile. 

+++

Hours later after lazy bedroom sex then the lazy shower sex that followed, the pair of them make their way to work. It's a quiet place, especially now in the tourist off season. Most of the help is away to the various colleges they attend, but a handful of the regulars remain. A group Harry has found himself a part of. 

The tiny beach side surf shop is silent as they move inside and discard of their thin jackets behind the counter. Harry heads to the back to put on a pot of coffee while Jessica starts on opening the store for the day. 

A few hours pass by in a comfortable silence. Only a few customers break their content stillness, and Jess sees to the few town regulars that pass through to buy miscellaneous items needed for the random upkeep of their boards or pools or whatever. 

Some of the stops were brief while the others stayed and chat with the pair of them for a while, but by the afternoon Jess has resigned to doing the daily newspaper crossword that Harry is utter shit at (her words), and he is in the back room getting supplies to fill up some of the emptier selves on the floor. Eventually, Harry hears the familiar voice of one of the other employees, Jared, from the front room. 

"Hey, Jess," he says in his gruff voice. “By yourself?" 

"No, my bitch is here," and Harry can hear the smile in her voice and he laughs as he heads to the front room. 

"I don't think my title has changed from Stock Supervisor since Jared last worked," he says and leans on the counter and sends a nod to Jared when he passes to drop his things behind it before his shift starts. 

She laughs and looks over her shoulder at him. “Yeah, yeah where are those balms I told you we needed?" she said and turned back to look at the crossword. Shit he forgot that's what he was looking for back there.

Harry checks to make sure Jared is still looking in his bags at the register before he put his hand behind his back and summons the small box of lip balms from the back room. The small box tucks into his hand just in time for him to brandish them proudly in front of him when she turns to look back at him.

"Right," she says and then points to the place where they go. “Off you go," she bites her lip and waits for his reaction. He laughs and tosses them at her. She drops her pen and hastens to catch the box and scowls when she almost misses. "Dick." she mutters and turns away to open the box. 

"Prat." he says and walks around to stand in front of the counter facing her. 

He smiles and points " Me stock, you floor." He and Jared laugh at the common exchange the two of them share and the equally put out look on her face as she begins to turn away. He reaches over the counter and pulls at her sleeve. 

"Hey, hey." he says and pulls her back towards him. He leans in further and presses a chaste kiss to her lips and he feels her smile against him. 

"British..."

"Bastard," he finishes and smiles. "Off you go!"

He and Jared laugh when she flips him off on the way to the shelves.

"So, Harry. You coming tonight?" 

Harry turns to look at Jared and nods, "Yeah, I'm not going ...er... out of town this week." 

"Oh right, your secret, Monthly disappearance, “Jared laughs and starts in on rearranging the display cards on the counter. 

Harry rolls his eyes and turns around to jump and sit on the counter. "Yes, no secret disappearance today." 

“Listen, if you're like a secret agent can you tell me now so I can change my bet?"

“You’re what?"

Jess laughs and appears back behind the counter to throw away the box. She moves behind Harry and wraps her arm around him. She must be standing on something because her chin rest on his shoulder. 

"These numb nuts have a bet that your... disappearances... are something more than it is," she informs him. "They've been taking bets for months now to see what you're actually doing."

"You mean I need a reason other than to escape the lot of you?" he asks with mock incredulity and receives a pinch to his side and an offended protest from Jared.

He laughs and rubs at the stinging flesh through the shirt and leans back into Jessica. "Besides it’s not _EVERY _week."__

__“It’s enough," she says so softly he almost doesn't hear it and a second later she’s pressing a kiss to the back of his neck._ _

__He turns enough to meet her gaze and she smiles but it doesn't meet her eyes and he leans his head against hers and smiles." I'm not going anywhere,” he says and she smiles again. A real one._ _

__"Thank you," she mouths before she kisses him. It’s a quick, simple peck, but he leans into it seeking more. When she pulls back completely it leaves him slightly dizzy and he smiles. No doubt like an idiot._ _

__She steps down from her stool, and he watches her disappear into the backroom. When he looks up Jared is staring at him and shaking his head. "What?"_ _

__"One minute you are insulting each other and the next minute you're making out in my store."_ _

__"Your store?" they hear from the back._ _

__Harry laughs and Jared rolls his eyes and returns to his organizing. "Whatever. It's weird that’s all. I mean it works, but it's weird.”_ _

__Harry smiles and finds that he’s okay with that._ _

__+++_ _

__When evening approaches, the three of them do their last minute cleaning and other evening duties before they close._ _

__When they are set to leave and heading to the bar, Harry takes a moment to appreciate the sun setting and the sight it makes the nearly deserted beach in front of him._ _

__He looks out and sees two figures approaching and he smiles and offers them a small wave._ _

__"Is that... Holy shit!" a woman’s voice cries out and starts to run towards him. He smiles and opens his arms in time for her to hug him.  
"I thought you weren't in town today?" she says and looks past his shoulder no doubt to exchange a knowing glance at Jared behind him. _ _

__He rolls his eyes and steps away to clasp hands with the second person in a friendly hand shake. "Peter," he acknowledges and smiles before turning back to her, “Well my assignment changed," he says and watched her look of shock._ _

__“Harry..." Jess says trying for stern but he can hear the humor behind it._ _

__"Oh wait not supposed to talk about it..." he adds. “Top Secret," and gives her a knowing look._ _

__"Wait...What?!" she says with a look torn between excitement and confusion._ _

__"Rachel, relax. Jess told him about our bet," Jared says walking up next to her._ _

__Finished with locking up the store, Jessica comes up to stand among the group and hits Jared on the arm. "I did not!"_ _

__"You did...”_ _

__“No mate that was you."_ _

__"Yeah, I just cleared it up because I'm a super amazing girlfriend, and you were cheating," she adds and wraps her arm around his waist._ _

__He smiles and returns with an arm over her shoulder and a kiss to the top of her head._ _

__"Well whatever, he's not a secret agent," he says. “Just an asshole," he finishes and starts to walk away from the store and down the street towards the normal hangout._ _

__The group laughs and if Jared's shoelaces come undone and makes him trip and fall at the same time Harry goes to scratch his nose then it's just a complete coincident. Definitely not a tripping jinx._ _

__+++_ _

__"So wait, why are you here?" Peter asks once they are all seated and order their various drinks._ _

__"Why are you all so shocked? I come out all the time with you guys," Harry says and lifts his glass to take a sip of his Whiskey/Coke drink._ _

__"Well, yeah but not as often as we'd like AND definitely not on one of your mystery weekends," Rachel says as she eyes the karaoke stage in the corner._ _

__"That has NOTHING to do with being a secret agent or something,” Jared says pointedly._ _

__Harry laughs and looks at Jared who is pointing at his drink and then at Rachel "this round is on you," he mouths and she flips him off._ _

__Harry looks over at Jess who has been oddly quiet through the exchange. She looking down into her drink and stirring it slowly with her straw._ _

__He reaches under the table and gives her knee a squeeze. She looks up at him and smiles a small little sad smile that breaks his heart a little._ _

__“I just had better places to be this weekend."_ _

__She leans into him and he kisses the mess of wavy blonde hair and wraps his arms around to pull her in closer to him._ _

__"I bet this round she bribed him with special sex!" Rachel cries out and points at Jared._ _

__"Deal!"_ _

__"Rach!" Jess says while Harry frowns. "Dude!" and Peter laughs into his drink._ _

__“Well?" Rach inquires._ _

__"No!" Harry says and sighs as he drains the rest of his drink._ _

__“Well..." Jess says thoughtfully a minute later and the table erupts in protest and laughter and promised bets and Harry couldn't be happier._ _

__+++_ _

__Later after many, too many, glasses of whiskey-with-a-drop-of-soda, and after several rounds of booze fueled "Battle 'O Karaoke" (as Rachel likes to call it), the five of them are stumbling out of the bar and off in their separate directions._ _

__"Harry it was a pleasure, Darling," Rachel says in a horrible attempt at his accent while she leans heavily on a less intoxicated Peter._ _

__"Cheers, you two," he laughs as Peter, rather than struggling to help her walk, picks her up and carries her over his shoulder._ _

__"Yeah you too... “He says and then adds. “Glad you made it out tonight, bro."_ _

__Harry sighs with a little wave at the retreating pair and he pretends to not notice the way Jess grip tightens around his waist._ _

__Their walk back to the house is quiet, but not comfortable like most nights. The weight of everything unspoken between them seems to hang heavily like a thick fog around them._ _

__When they reach the front door Harry unlocks the door and holds it open as Jess walks through. They walk around in silence as they disrobe and get ready for bed._ _

__Harry his in the discarded white shirt from earlier that morning and boxers as he brushes his teeth, and he doesn't noticed she's come and joined him until her chilled fingers wrap around him and slide under his shirt to settle at his torso._ _

__He looks up and her eyes, almost completely blue, meet his green in the mirror. She smiles softly and leans her head against him._ _

__"Tonight was fun," she says and then adds, “Thank you for not leaving this weekend."_ _

__He spits and rinses his mouth and then turns to wrap his arms around her._ _

__"You never have to be afraid to ask me anything."_ _

__"I know how much your... um…thing means to you."_ _

__He sighs and leans his head against hers and whispers, "You mean something too."_ _

__She leans up and kisses him and he lets himself get lost in it. He feels her saying everything she couldn't say to him out loud as they back out into the bedroom. He can taste _I love you_ and _thank you_ along with the bitter taste of her favored gin. _ _

__He shows her he loves her in the gentle touches as he strips off the rest of her clothes, and _I'm here _as he kisses down her jaw to her collarbone.___ _

____They trade their unspoken appreciation in the rock of their hips and rushes of breath._ _ _ _

_____I'm scared you'll leave me_ in the tight grip of messy black hair, and _I'm scared you won't love me if you find out the truth_ in groans against her lips._ _ _ _

____They drift off to sleep in a tangle of limbs._ _ _ _

____+++_ _ _ _

____A crash from the garage wakes them up the next morning._ _ _ _


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay! I've been busy with finals and graduation and all that jazz! I tried to pump this out before I went on holiday, so forgive any typos. Now off to pack! Happy Holidays everyone!

Harry jolts up at the loud bang. Confused and annoyed, he sighs heavily and almost passes it off as another phone alarm mishap when he feels nails dig into his arm.

"Did you hear me? I said, what the hell was that?!" 

He looks over at her voice, and Jess is clutching the sheet to her chest and staring at their bedroom door with a worried expression. 

"Huh... yeah think so." he mumbles and reaches over to put on his glasses. 

He’s just about to search for his phone to check the alarm when he hears a second collection of loud noises clearly coming from the other side of the house and he hurries to put on his boxers and races to the door. 

"Stay here," he whispers urgently as he pushes the door open and slips out as quietly as he can. 

He approaches slowly and maneuvers his way around the various items of the living room. Suddenly he misses the familiar feather-light weight of the invisibility cloak, and with a rueful smile he pushes the thought away to focus his attention back to his slightly hazy catalog of wandless magic he's used over the years. He panics slightly at the small amount of defensive spells he feels comfortable doing without a wand. 

"You forg-"

"Shit!" he says loudly and spins around to see a startled and sheet-clad Jessica standing inches behind him holding a bat.

"SHH!" she says and punches him rather hard as she shoots a glance around him at the door hiding the source of the noise. "It'll hear you-"

"I told you to stay in the room" he says following her gaze and pushing her behind him in a protective gesture. 

"Well you didn't take the bat!" she said and thrusts it in front of him.

He almost laughed at the absurdity of using a bat but takes it from her anyway. "Not exactly the wood that's helpful." he mutters and held the bat up in a fighting stance.

He edges closer to the door and he hears and feels the rustle and press of her sheet pressing against him. 

"Jess, bloody fuck... go bac-"

"No, I wanna see who it is!"

"Yeah and if it is a crazy knife wielding maniac are you going to be so ‘stoked’," he says with an eye roll, “When he starts throwing daggers or something?"

"What the hell! I can take care of myself!"

"I didn't say-"

Harry stops mid-sentence with they hear another loud crash and then an even louder groan.

Without waiting any longer Harry runs over to the connected garage and with one quick motion unlocks and flings the door open. 

He flicks the light on and scans the room. Within seconds he finds someone trying to stand up from the mess of paint cans scattered on the floor. 

"Don't move an inch, or it will be the last thing you do," he says darkly pointing the bat at their head.

The huddle of paint looks up and familiar brown eyes meet his," Harry, Oh thank MERLIN. I thought I'd taken the p-port key to the wrong place. Bloody terrified me. It was so dark and -"

Harry hardly hears what she is saying-- stunned for a moment as he watches his best friend struggle to her feet. The horrible shade of yellow that he has to stare at every day in his loo is plastered across one side of her body, and the lower half is cover in a sticky dark blue substance that she’s obviously slipped in. 

She pauses from her rant to look up at him.

“A little help would be appreciated," she says crossly and shoots him an annoyed glare.

"Shit, yeah. Of course Hermione, I'm so sorry." he says as he drops the bat and rushes over to meet her. 

"Are you okay?" he asks as he helps her up to her feet and grimaces at the amount of paint she’s collected from her fall.

"Well like I said, I lost my balance on the pull and then it was so bloody dark in here I couldn’t do anything but grope ... oh... erm... hello?" she finishes as her eyes fix upon the door way.

Harry follows her gaze and meets a confused set of gray eyes. Fuck.

"You... what?" Jessica says pointing at the pair of them.

"This is Hermione... a friend from home. In London," he adds and glances down at Hermione who is looking at him in shock.

Jessica looks at him for a second and then crosses her arms. 

"What?" she says again and there is a bite in there that he is not ready to deal with so early in the morning.

"Um, I'm a friend of his from school... Herm-"

“I got that," Jessica snaps back and shoots Hermione an annoyed look before she looks back at Harry expectantly. 

"I guess... because I didn't go home... back to visit," he amends at the sudden dark glint in Jessica’s eyes." When I didn't go to visit she got worried and came here?" he's not sure he meant to make the last part a question.

"This... This is who you "visit" on your weekends away?" Jessica says through gritted teeth.

"Well yeah," Harry starts and then adds, “Wait no. I mean yes, but not just her. My family and stuff." He pulls his arm from around Hermione and makes a start to stand next to Jessica but she takes a step back from him. 

"Jess." he says with a sigh and runs a hand through his hair- not caring about the paint he's smearing through it. " 'S not what you're thinking, love. I promise."

"We've been best friends since... umm... primary school," Hermione says and shoots him a look that says ‘what the hell is going on’. "I'm actually engaged to our other best friend from school." she said and holds up her hand to show the paint coated ring. 

“Yeah so... wait what!" Harry says and turns to her. "OH MY GOD" he yells and reaches back to her and wraps her and a tight hug. 

"Mione, that’s bloody FANTASTIC," he says and picks her up off the ground. 

She laughs delightedly as he sets her back down.

Engaged! He knew things were still going great, but he hadn’t expected that. He is about to ask when all this happened when Jessica clears her throat.

He looks over at her and sighs. 

"Don't mean to interrupt such a warm reunion, but how did you manage to get into our locked house," Jessica asks.

Harry freezes but Hermione steps in before he can make a complete ass of himself. 

“Oh, the side door was actually unlocked-- I guess it's broken or something." she said and waves a flippant hand towards the side door. “And I... erm couldn't find the light switch so I just tried to feel my way around."

“And why not ring the doorbell like a normal person."

Hermione bristles slightly but shoots back. “I actually thought Harry lived alone. I was trying to surprise him." 

“How did you get here?"

"Taxi-cab"

"Where is your luggage?"

“At my hotel"

"Where are you staying?"

"Okay! How about we move this inside," Harry cuts loudly in before Hermione can run out of responses.

“Jess, maybe Mione can wear something of yours and get out of these." he says and pointed down at the paint ruined clothes. 

Jessica looks at the pair of them for another minute. Throwing a suspicious look Hermione’s way and then turning a glare on Harry that holds a little more than annoyance, she turns away and walks back into the house.

Harry sighed and shakes his head before turning back to look at his friend. 

"She seems lovely...” she deadpans. 

And he groans. "She normally isn't tha--" He stops at the annoy glance she gives him before looking down at her ruined clothes. 

With one last sigh he put his hand around her shoulder, not caring anymore about the paint getting on him and gives her a light squeeze. 

“Let’s get you something to wear, yeah?"

***

Harry busies himself making a pot of coffee and finds newfound interest in the coffee containers contents on the back label as it brews. Jessica sits in a chair at the table, now clothed, and shooting glares that promises there is a painful, and probably slow, death in Harry's future if she has anything to say about it.

He's just about to resign himself to being yelled at when Hermione walks in the kitchen looking uncomfortable in a pair of borrowed jean shorts and pink tank top. He frowns and notices the way her arms are wrapped around herself, and watches as she tugs on the bottom of the shorts as if to try and make them longer. 

Understanding dawning, he puts down the coffee container and walks over to one of the dining room chairs and plucks his jacket off the back and tosses it to her wordlessly. 

She shoots him an appreciative smile and puts it on. “Thanks,” she said quietly.

"I'm going to the store," Jessica says suddenly and rises to leave. 

Harry sighs and moves towards her, "Jess, don't-"

"Knowing Rach, she probably isn't functional enough to figure out how to unlock the front door let alone open the store," she says and grabs the keys off the counter. 

"Jessica-"

"We'll talk later."

She walks out without acknowledging Hermione, and a few seconds later he hears the front door open then slam close.

Harry leans against the counter and closes his eyes for a bit. 

“Well she-"

“Don’t," he says not looking at her. He just rubs his eye lids in a soothing matter trying to relieve his nightmare of a headache. “Just... not yet."

He looks at her and sighs at the slightly hurt look on her face.

“Please... coffee first."

***

Later when Harry is on his second cup and Hermione is "not hating" the au lait he made for her they sit down at the small breakfast table and start talking.

"And when you didn't arrive with the port key we all got worried," Hermione says as she looks down into her mug.

"I sent you an email saying I wouldn't be coming. That was three days ago."

“Well I can only check that palm at my apartment in the city." She says hotly. “The magic from the ministry and at Ron's place interferes with it and makes it not work properly... So I don't check it often. Sorry," she added sarcastically. 

Harry sighed and shook his head. "But how did you get back here on the port key. If I had taken it it wasn't supposed to come back until Tuesday."

"A friend of Ron's works in the Department of Wizarding Transportation and got it changed for us. Which by the way transatlantic port keys are bloody difficult to get so you shouldn’t waste them like--”

"Mione," he groaned cutting her scolding mid-sentence. “Please."

"Fine." she huffs. "Look the only reason why I'm here is because Ginny has a game that Ron couldn't miss and we want to tell the whole family about the engagement soon."

Harry looks at her confused. “So why didn't you tell everyone yesterday at dinner?"

Hermione takes a sip of her drink and then makes a show folding her napkin just right before wiping her face. “We wanted to tell you first." she says and blushes a little bit. 

Harry feels an odd sense of affection at his friend’s admittance, which is immediately followed by sadness and guilt at not being there with them for more than a few days at a time during most of their relationship. 

He clears his throat and grips his mug a little tighter.

“Wow, erm Mione… that… thanks. That means a lot to me.”

“Yeah well,” she says and takes another sip of her drink. “You mean a lot to us. None of this would feel right without you there.”

“I’m sorry Her-“ 

She waves him off and sits her drink down. 

“Not important," she says and waves him off. "Listen. We’d love it if you were there when we tell everyone."

She bites her lip nervously and looks Harry in the eye. His throat goes very dry all of a sudden. 

"Erm... yeah, I suppose I could ... I mean of course Mione," he said and shakes his head. How could he even think of missing this?

The stony expression she was starting to get dissipates some and she breathes out in obvious relief. 

He reaches over to grabs her hand and clutches it tightly, “I am so happy for you two."

She rolls her eyes and shakes her head as if to make light of what he's just said. 

"Hey, no. I'm serious. This is great! I can't imagine a more perfect couple."

"Well it only took seven years," she jokes and blinks down at their clasped hands. He'd seen the glassy look start to form there, but he says nothing and gives her a moment to collect herself. 

"Anyway, I'll owl the ministry and have another port key arranged... it'll probably take a few days even if it is for the 'famous Harry Potter',” she laughs softly. “I don't think I can pull that many favors over the course of one weekend..." she says and pulls her hand back to grab at her mug and looks up thoughtfully. Probably writing a draft of the mentioned letter.

"Wait. A couple of days? Why not just wait until I go next week?"

“You want us to wait two whole weeks to tell everyone?"

“I guess not, but-"

“And of course we’ll have to look into finding you a place. I mean I'm sure Molly wouldn’t mind if you stay at the burrow, or even with Ron. But I think a flat in the city wouldn't be a bad idea..."

"A flat for what?" he asked confused.

“To live in," she says obviously. Then her expression turns worried. “I mean unless you ... I'm sure Grimmauld Place ... a bit of cleaning should--"

"No. No, I'm not going to Grimmauld Place," he says hurriedly. 

Hermione sighs and visibly brightens, “Good. Because--"

"Hermione, I'm not moving back," he says and he's afraid to look at her. He's afraid of what he might see.

"But... the wedding--"

"I wouldn't miss it for the world," he says and reaches for her hand again, “but this is my home now."

Hermione sighs and sets down her mug, " Harry I know after the --"

"Hermione, you don't. I know you think it's the same for you and Ron and Nev and everyone who was there, but it's not," he says and runs his hand through his hair. He can still feel the dried streaks of paint.

"Here I'm not the savior of the wizarding world, I'm not the famous Harry Potter, I'm not the chosen boy, or the boy who lived, I'm just Harry Potter," he says and looks back at her and smiles sadly. I’m the Stupid British Bastard. 

"I will be there for whatever you need. I am only a call away... well if you are at your flat but still," he adds and then laughs softly.

"Harry," she says and it sounds like she’s fighting to control her emotions, which ones-- he can't figure them out. "I know you had a difficult time after the war. Please hear me out."

Harry had been ready to cut her off, but he stills, closes his mouth, sighs and leans forward with his elbows and forearms resting on the table. 

“Don’t you think it's time you come back home," she continues softly. “I’m sure this has been fun, but everyone misses you. And I'm sure we could get you a job at the ministry. We could probably even talk to Shackleb--"

"No," he cuts in. He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath.

"I love you. I love you both, and I miss you lot constantly. But..." he trails off and looks at her. "This is where home is now. I'm not going back."

***

Hermione refuses any offer to stay at his place, and begrudgingly lets him find her an actual hotel to stay in. They go to the local store to get her a few items that she'll need while she's there, and then they set off to find one of the few wizarding spots that Harry as actually found – The Owlery.

"I can't believe you don't have a floo Harry!" she says for the thousandth time as they walk pass the various strip mall store windows. 

I don't even have a bloody fireplace, he thinks and sighs as he looks around the crowded street. He knows it's hear somewhere. He'd been here once just in case he ever needed to send something. He prepared for moments like this. All the good that's doing him now.

"I thought it was around here somewhere," he says and scans in the opposite direction. 

"Honestly, Harry."

"Hey, I said there was one, I didn't say I knew where."

"You said you'd been."

"That was like once, and people kept looking at me funny. Like they knew who I was but couldn't remember why and I panicked and ran out, okay. I wasn't exactly in the mood to send anyone an owl anyway," he says and searches for the owlery again. 

Hermione is silent after that, but after a few moments she perks up and points.

"Look up there."

He follows her gaze and sees a tiny, almost camouflaged owl perched on a store at the end of the shabby shopping strip. Of course. He knew it was over there. Sure.

One time he walked by this place with Paul, who complained that it was always closed. Harry almost blurted out that he’d never seen it closed when he realized that the sign on the front door must read different to muggles.

He goes over to the door and pushes it open and is assaulted with the now unfamiliar stench of animals and paper. 

They are both greeted and Hermione goes off to mail her letters. Harry just stands by the racks of various greeting cards and tries not to be noticed. 

"Oh bugger, I only have coins... will a sickles do fine?" he hears Hermione ask some time later.

The older man at the register laughs delightedly and when Harry turns around he is nodding and looking rather fondly at the silver coins Hermione just gave him. 

"Ah yes, we'll just get them exchanged at the end of the week. So you're from the other side of the pond, huh? What brings you to the lovely states?" he says and closes the register.

Hermione looks as if she was to say something about his opinions on the word lovely, but instead she smiles and jerks her head behind her. "Just visiting a friend."

Harry turns around quickly before the man can look at him and stuffs his hands in his pockets. God, he has to get out of here. 

"Well I hope you enjoy California, its lovely this time a year."

She bids him a nice farewell and they, head back to her hotel.  
***

With Hermione settled into her hotel and a promise to meet her for breakfast in the morning, Harry leaves for his place. When he gets there Jessica is sitting on the couch reading an old issue of some fashion magazine.

"Hi," he says cautiously and tosses his keys on the table.

"Hi."

He sighs and goes to the couch. Hesitation hits him hard and he’s dreading this conversation, but he'd rather get it over with now. 

"She's just my friend... there's nothing going on with-"

"Why didn’t you just tell me it was your family you were going to visit all those times," she says without looking up from her magazine. "I mean for gods sake we thought you were working for the fucking government, Harry."

Her voice is calm but Harry can see her hands gripping the current page of the magazine tightly. 

He sits down and grabs her hand and pulls the magazine away.

"Listen," he said and settles in close to her not letting go of her hand. 

"I mean we're your friends, don't you trust us?" she asks and looks at him. He can see the hurt in her eyes and his heart breaks a little. 

"Jess--"

"I mean are you ashamed of us or something," she pulls away from him and stands up to start pacing. "Don't mind us we're just the pathetic losers who run the crappy little surf shack."

Okay his heart more like shatters into a million pieces.

"Jess. You know I love you. Okay it's just complicated."

"What’s so complicated about you visiting your family?"

He doesn't say anything. He can’t tell her. He's not ready. They aren't ready. 

Are they?

"I mean, we've only been dating for, oh I don't know TWO YEARS! and I been patient because I didn't want to be the girlfriend that’s all demanding and shit but Harry, I mean come on even you have to see how this looks."

Harry opens his mouth but the only thing he can think of is how they actually only been dating for like 19 months. They were friends for longer, and they did sort of make out that week he moved here, but they both tend to forget about that.

"Did you hear me?"

Harry closes his mouth and looks at her. Right. Say something. 

"It's complicated."

He sleeps on the couch that night.

***

The next morning, after an awkward and quiet coffee with Jessica, she heads to the store and Harry finds Hermione in the lobby of her hotel eating a muffin and reading the newspaper.

He sinks down with a huff into the arm chair across from her and closes his eyes.

"How did your talk go last night?"

He grunts and shakes his head.

"I got an owl from the ministry," she says and when he looks up at her she’s looking at him cautiously. “They’ve set the port key for tomorrow at 3."

Harry sighs. "Right."

Neither of them says anything for a few minutes and then Hermione extends her hand.

"Muffin?"

**Author's Note:**

> And for some reason my emphasis coding is missing at the end so ... my bad.


End file.
